As the New Hawks gain more and more media attention with every passing month and year, games like last night's will go down, for a while at least, as the most analyzed exhibition games in history.
I'll try to avoid piling on.
Nothing can be extracted about the relative caliber of either team. The Hawks' 0 for 5 on the power play means nothing.
I'm not going to comment on a lot of guys. Many of them looked out of shape, or at least out of game shape. It was an exhibition with more junior and AHL players than legit NHL'ers. But there were some individual performances and impressions that might provide clues as to how certain things will shake out.
Here are my takes:
GOOD:
- Sami Lepisto is a pretty solid hockey player. I liked all his decisions in all situations. He's not spectacular, but he's skilled enough and he's smart. He won't hurt you. That was a nice pickup by Stan Bowman.
- Brandon Saad. This guy has pro winger written all over him. He simply looks ten years older than he is— most of the time. He's instinctive in all situations, skates well and can compete physically. My only criticism of his game last night and at this point is he needs to develop some better one-on-one moves. He tries to make plays in space sometimes that simply aren't going to work against pro defenders.
- Rostislav Olesz. How many people still think the Hawks dealt for him just to buy him out? No, he's not going to make anyone forget Bobby Hull, but he showed last night he can be an effective 2nd or 3rd line winger on the Hawks. I was particularly impressed with how well he skated and how strong he was in the corners coming off ACL surgery in February.
- Mark McNeill. He had a nice game. It was interesting to see how McNeill's game rose up in a more tightly defended context, with more corner work, while Philip Danault's was unremarkable. I still harbor no illusions about McNeill making the Hawks this year (or next). And I'm still not sure if he's a third liner or a top 6 guy in the pros. But he definitely did more to justify his draft slot last night.
- Marcus Kruger. Kruger is rarely going to jump out at you for athletic plays or youtube highlights. That's not his game. I like the way he defends all the way up and down the ice, works in the corners and makes his teammates better.
- Jamal Mayers. It was kind of funny to see a #22 red sweater skating that well. I can only echo what Troy Murray said last night: he's going to help this club in a lot of ways.
MIXED:
- Ray Emery never had to go post-to-post to stop a bang-bang play, but he didn't appear to have any mobility issues either. I thought he looked OK, about what you'd expect for a quality veteran 'keeper at this time of year. Alexander Salak is bigger than he'd looked to me previously on tape. He didn't see much rubber and basically didn't have much chance on the goal he gave up. I still think Emery has in the inside track on the backup job. In fact, again, because he looks physically capable, then on the basis of his experience and credentials, you have to think he's going to make the club.
- Kyle Beach clearly is trying to play more fundamentals and good for him. I would not put the bust label on him just yet, but he is still a work in progress— with a lot of work left to do.
- Nick Leddy can be all-world for 190 feet and a trainwreck for the other 10. It's way too early to sound the alarm, but I was disappointed to see how physically manhandled he was a couple of times last night. It didn't look like he added much, if any, strength in the offseason. But it was one game, maybe he was off-balance, etc. I also felt like although the Oilers, like the other 29 teams, had a target on Leddy's back for tight forecheck pressure, he handled that reasonably well.
BAD:
There really was no bad per se. I'm not going to take a swipe at John Scott. He is what he is. Although he does look to have gained a step in his straight line speed.
So, what did you guys think?
I'll be back tomorrow with a preview of Thursday's game.
JJ
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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